They all had their weapons ready to go and everyone took their places.
Sheba and Ari took off for parts unknown along the property.
Orrin and Cane were situated on the front verandah with some of John’s men.
James sat in the security room with his laptop.He checked for any updates from Bastian.He noted that Excaliber had given them an updated timeline after she looked for a manifest of the Gondo plane coming from Mexico.
James wasn’t surprised that they were closer than anyone knew.He informed John and Leon of the timeline as he knew it.He caught Bane’s eye and nodded at the weapon in his hands.“What are you going to do with that?”James nodded at his sniper rifle.
“Now James,” Bane retorted.“If I have to tell you how a rifle works then maybe you need to reenlist and go to bootcamp all over again.”
James scoffed.”Ha-ha...I am asking because that is your sniper rifle.You only use it when you...”His voice faded away.“So you are gonna finish that contract?”
Bane stared at him.“First off, we need to talk later and you WILL be telling me how you know about that contract.Secondly, yes.I want to be the one to take that motherfucker out.I need to finish something I started years ago.”Turning, he ducked out of the house.
James watched the screen he had of the property.
Bane swiftly moved across the lawn then climbed the tallest tree in Leon’s two-acre front yard.Literally melting into the leaves, he could no longer be viewed.
John turned to James and asked, “Can he still do what he did years ago?”
James looked over at John as he sat at the desk in front of the screens.He nodded without hesitation.“Yeah, he can still do the job and then some.No retirement in that respect.Recently...”he paused.“Bane took out eight men by surprise to save my ass from certain death.”He pointed at a scar above his eye and one he had on his neck.“For the most part, he’s changed but every so often, the pull from the past grabs him.Mostly, it is when we really need it too.He can step right in and become what he once was.I’ve seen him do it time after time.”He shrugged.“I think if something ever happened to Sarah or Aurora, he could step back into his past self and never return.We all pray that never happens.”
“And Bastian?How does he feel about that?”John asked.
“I think he worries about it too.But Bastian doesn’t want to put those thoughts into words.It’s something we all do not want to think about.”
“I get it.”John nodded.Then his phone beeped.He read the text and told James, “Sam tells me they are coming up and exiting the freeway.”He then checked the screens again.
After about ten minutes, he saw a caravan of vehicles coming from three blocks away.He muted the audio then reached for his phone.He typed a message to Leon and Bane.Then he texted the security leaders outside.
Leon, along with Alfredo, joined them in the security room and everyone stared at the screens outside.
One vehicle broke away from the front and drove up slowly.The rest of the caravan stayed behind and the vehicle drove right up to the front gate.The front doors opened and two men got out.
Leon growled under his breath, “Paulo and Juan.”
